The management meeting has finished and the message is clear. “The good days are over… We’re faced with a reality where consumers are spending less, goods are costing more and operational costs are squeezed hard.”
Your task as a security manager has become even harder in the economic downturn: the risk of theft by internal or external persons has heightened, but there’s likely no enhanced budget to improve systems and processes.
It’s a familiar tale: your company treats security as a grudge spend. You know the system is better than that, but representing value is difficult.
Now you’re being asked to do and know more, potentially with fewer people at your disposal while you’re operating on a tight spend.
What can you do?
Locked inside your intruder alarm system is all the information you need to manage risk on a better and healthier basis.
You can’t access that information, though, because to transmit it over the telephone network is already expensive and costs are going up.
Your existing alarm transmitters don’t support the panels’ signalling protocol and can only transmit up to 16 different event types. The only alternative to accessing the ‘rich’ information is to go to site, or dial up and download the log – but that represents more cost and time that simply isn’t available.
Solution: transmit more for less
You need to switch from signalling simple pre-defined messages to rich SIA protocol alarms, transmitted as they happen.
To do this cost effectively, use your corporate data network or public Internet connection with GPRS backup. This increases the amount of data you can send without the cost of dial up.
Information can be deeply encrypted and delivered almost instantaneously. Operators receive only the alarms required to generate a key holder or police response, but your audit trail is vastly improved without needing to visit site.
Your business wants to continue operating with as little external interruption as possible. You’ve heard that the intruder alarm system can be remotely serviced to reduce maintenance visits from two to one. However, remote servicing is over a telephone line, incurs call charges and is insecure.
Solution: more remote servicing, added security and reliability
The serial alarm interface is also used for management and servicing (upload/download or UDL).
Transmitting this information over a managed IP or GPRS alarm network doesn’t incur call charges, improves service security using data encryption and ensures that access to your panels is centrally password-protected and controlled.
System faults may be isolated and identified remotely for a first visit fix, maintenance issues can be detected quickly and security improved proactively without the need for a second mandatory maintenance visit.
When you purchased the intruder alarm system you needed alarm confirmation in the event of a burglary or communications fault. Your alarm signalling system is Grade 3 or 4, but to save money you’re considering moving to a Grade 2 system.
What are the risks involved?
Solution: reduce costs, not security
Switching from a Grade 3 or 4 signalling system to Grade 2 opens a large hole in your security system.
Under European and UK standards, Grade 3 or 4 signalling systems can legitimately report a complete failure of the dual path signalling system in either five hours or 3-6 minutes respectively.
Grade 2 systems have a reporting time for this catastrophic condition of 24 hours, opening a time lag of between 19 and 25 hours compared to your existing system.
The real question you’re asking is how to reduce costs, but not reduce security?
Moving from a proprietary or dial up telephone line-based security system to an IP/GPRS system takes away the cost of the telephone line, but doesn’t open up the gap in identifying a major problem which can reduce security or attack.
Your remit is to do more with less. How can you implement a system which offers so much improved information, customer service and proactive maintenance of alarm systems and the communications networks while at the same time reducing operational costs?
Use existing spend to migrate
Some businesses split costs for line rentals and alarm monitoring between the IT and Security Departments. The combined costs and issues of split responsibilities can cost your business considerably.
Using the cost of line rentals, call charges and an improvement in operations as your business case can fund the migration from analogue to digital. Taking no action will continue to cost your business for years to come. Remember, too, that the price of PSTN line rentals is not decreasing.
Chris Carter Brennan is the commercial director at WebWayOne
Everything you need to know about… WebWayOne
WebWayOne brings a new dimension to alarm signalling and remote monitoring.
The company’s technology not only brings out the value of the intruder alarm systems and reduces costs, but also enhances the practical features previously used in legacy and analogue products.
WebWayOne’s communicators integrate with all the leading alarm panels and provide fast, secure and reliable transmission of this rich data format over IP and GPRS networks for the end user’s benefit.
The technology enables your panel to be remotely serviced and maintained at a lower communications cost.
Faults can be isolated and identified remotely for a first visit fix, while maintenance issues may be detected quickly and security improved proactively.
WebWayOne goes further with network monitoring by providing statistics per connection. Its systems calculate the percentage ‘up time’ of each communications path per site, with performance indicators set to proactively flag issues for resolution either immediately or at the next maintenance visit.
The company’s solutions have been implemented by leading retailers in the UK and across Europe, its technology being readily available from all national Alarm Receiving Centres.
For further information access the website (a dedicated link is provided on the right hand panel of this page)
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